Whether to use lethal force is a life or death decision made often in a split second. A bear encountered by a hunter or a perpetrator encountered by a SWAT team member are both very unpredictable targets. Currently, once the decision is made to use non-lethal force, a hunter or tactical officer must abandon the lethal option to activate pepper spray. Hip mounted pepper spray requires that the hunter or tactical officer lower his rifle to acquire and apply the spray. Rifle mounted devices often require that the user remove his finger from the trigger of the rifle to activate the spray (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,269,922; 5,671,559; 6,546,661 B1; 6,644,839 B2; and 7,644,839 B2). In either case, the user gives up the option to use lethal force.
A need remains for a device that can dispense pepper spray in these critical situations that is fast and intuitive. The pepper spray could be dispensed by a motion which is familiar to a rifleman. Most importantly, the subject device would not require the user to abandon the option of lethal force by requiring him to remove his finger from the trigger of his rifle.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the teachings of the specification.